Rio: Iron ore product group D to be led by Matthew Holcz

Rio: Iron ore product group D to be led by Matthew Holcz

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has temporarily halted operations at its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea following a fatal accident. The incident, which occurred on Friday, involved an employee from a contracting company at the SimFer mine site [1]. This is the second fatality at the project in less than a year, with the first occurring in October 2024 at the SimFer port site.

Rio Tinto's Chief Executive, Jakob Stausholm, issued a statement confirming the suspension of all activity at the SimFer mine site. He stated that a thorough investigation would be conducted in collaboration with relevant authorities to determine the cause of the tragic incident. No details were provided, but one media report cited the incident as a workplace accident [1].

The Simandou project, which is expected to start production by the end of this year, aims to achieve full production capacity of 120 million tonnes (mnt)/year. The project is divided into four mining blocks, with SimFer, a joint venture between Rio Tinto, Chalco Iron Ore Holdings Ltd, and the government of Guinea, holding the mining concession for blocks 3 and 4 in the south. The mining concession for blocks 1 and 2 in the north is held by Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) [1].

The first shipment from Simandou was initially scheduled for November, with ore to be railed from the SimFer mine and shipped through the WCS port. However, the latest suspension in SimFer mine operations makes it unclear whether this schedule will be affected [1].

References:
[1] https://www.bigmint.co/insights/detail/guinea-worker-fatality-forces-temporary-halt-to-rio-tintos-simandou-iron-ore-operations-675190